This is a comparison between the cut US Version and the uncut Version (both included on the German Blu-ray released by Digidreams).

- 5 cuts
- Difference in time: 516.1 sec (= 8:36 min) [PAL speed]

Bruce's Deadly Fingers is without a doubt one of the most entertaining "Bruceploitation"-flicks: All relations to Bruce Lee's personal life were forced onto the movie by the studio. Apart from that, you will recognize a lot of familiar Hong-Kong-cinema stars within this classic fight story.

The German Blu-ray is the first official HD-release of the flick and at the same time the longest version ever available. The previously available German VHS-tape was censored, yet included a few scenes that the US-version was missing out on. Digidreams now were able to get their hands on the American HD-master and additionally put in all the missing scenes from SD-sources. As a little bonus, you can choose to watch the entire US-Version in HD.

The following comparison will show you, which scenes the US-HD-master misses out on. Apart from a bothersome cut to violence during the last few seconds, the rest of the 8.5 minutes of difference in time are missing jokes and plot sequences that you can actually live without. The US-version (which is also included with English soundtrack on the Blu-ray) thus is actually a worthy alternative version for those who do not want any switches of the image quality. Also, it is an unrestored version: The movie has an enjoyable, gritty grindhouse-look that fits the tone of the flick. Also, the colors were not altered, nor did they crop the image on the top or the bottom. We'll get into this further during the first comparison below.

Runtimes are listed as follows:
US-Version / Uncut Version

The German title was recreated for the German Blu-ray. The following credits, however, are identical.

Still, a guy called Oliver Krekel cheated his way into the flick - even in the US-HD-master (as you can see in the second image). Apart from that, the uncut version misses out on a little bit of information resulting from black bars put at the top and the bottom of the image. Overall, the aspect ratio was trimmed to about 2,57:1. The reason for this is that there is a visible cellotape on the top and the bottom of the image (see image 3) which they simply covered up in this way. Additionally, they changed the color and the image contrast a little bit.

No difference in time

US-Version

Uncut Version

02:07 / 02:07-06:29

After the title said "San Francisco", there is a short recap, which they mainly stole from The Way of the Dragon, accompanied by a random voiceover. It tells us that the real Bruce Lee apparently

- was renamed "Bruce Lee" by his parents when he turned 13 in order to have a career
- lived together with his Chinese girlfriend (Nora Miao) through whom he got to know his later wife
- only had time to train so much since he rarely ever got a job offer for a movie
- had his first fighting lessen along with his sister at the age of 8
- was not sure whether to be a part of The Green Hornet since it was made for TV and not a cinematic movie, yet enjoyed it after the first few episodes
- had died from circulatory collapse due to the ongoing physical strain

Additionally, the movie you are about to watch was already shot in 1964 and is based on a true story from his life. Of course...

262.6 sec (= 4:22 min)

16:00 / 20:22-22:14

After he talked his girlfriend into prostitution, we can see Liang taking some drugs with his colleagues. One of the men says that Mr. Quo has a new girl in his brothel and Liang gets uncomfortable when the name "Phoebe" is dropped.
After that, Liang lies down and suddenly, Ken appears. He warns the people that there is going to be a raid and tells them to go away. While the men are able to flee, Chang holds Ken back and asks where Li Hung is. After he says that he does not know, he gets hit in the stomach.

112 sec (= 1:52 min)

35:17 / 41:31-42:27

There is a cut to Liang, who - half-naked, looking a little ridiculous - trains in his room. The phone rings and Bruce asks who killed Master Chang. Hesitantly, Liang says that he will ask around in the opium den. Phoebe then takes the phone out of his hand.

56.2 sec

36:09 / 43:19-44:28

We see Liang again - Phoebe lashes at him again. She forbids him to answer the phone again. Then, the doorbell rings. Liang goes to the door and immediately, a few bad guys enter, who clutch him. The drug buddies run away quickly and then Chang enters.

68.1 sec (= 1:08 min)

90:17-90:22 / 98:36-98:58

The US-Version ends pretty abruptly with Bruce Lee pointing at the camera and the words "The End".

Actually, there is another side shot during which Lo Lieh holds his eye and Bruce's hand now is sticking inside is stomach. The image then freezes, and there is a different "End"-screen. After that, Digidreams have put their logo into the credits.